Claims of abuse are coming forward now on longtime head coach and WWE trainer Bill DeMott, and they’re coming from former developmental talent. In the past couple of days, two former developmental talents for WWE have brought forth claims of abuse against the WWE’s head trainer, and many legends and other wrestlers are speaking out about it all.
According to WrestleZone , former developmental talent Austin Matelson aka Judas Devlin has spoken out about DeMott’s training methods. He actually wrote a letter back in 2013 and sent it to WWE Talent Relations about his abuse claims.
Just recently, the letter was released online, and Matelson even said that when he spoke to WWE about it, he was ostracized by trainers and other wrestlers. This in turn led to WWE doctors missing a hernia in his back and causing severe injuries to him.
The full letter landed on Reddit , but here is an excerpt.
“I would like to request that this remain in strict confidence as I am afraid that if Coach Demott were to know I spoke out he would find ways to punish me for it. In fact the entire process of writing a letter to human resources has been called a “f**gots” way of dealing with problems by Coach Demott.”
“…after a 3 hour morning session had ‘ended’ at 11 AM, Demott put 280lbs Gary Jackson back in the ring at 11:30 and forced 8 of us to give him 10 takedowns each. After Gary had bumped 60 times in a matter of minutes, I entered the ring and was asked to give him 10 fireman takedowns. On the first one he collapsed from exhaustion while on my back, driving my knees into the mat where I sustained this injury.
“The hit I took aggravated it and Coach Demott pulled trainer Brian Duncan and I into the training room and said without any knowledge of my actual injury, ‘This injury can’t keep flaring up. It doesn’t look good perception wise to us (the office) or for your career going forward.’ Based on Coach Demott’s statement I feel that I am in a position where I have to cover up any injuries I may have otherwise I will be punished or fired.”
Since this letter has made it’s way out into the public, another former WWE developmental talent by the name of Ryan Collins has spoken out and backed up the claims of Matelson. His full letter can be read on the Facebook page of The Sports Courier .
“I have also grown very tired of how Coach DeMott has constantly bullied us. Whether by physically hitting us, or by calling us gay. He has on numerous occasions alluded to me being gay. His favorite phrase is ‘half a sissy’ not to mention him calling me and others ‘f**gots’…”
This has brought a number of former WWE developmental talents, main roster talent, and WWE legends out to defend Bill DeMott. A couple of those are Doc Gallows of the Bullet Club and the iconic Chris Jericho.
My 2 cents…. @BillDeMott was a great trainer & teacher of young men growing into the wrestling biz…. #RESPECT
— #SunTanBikerMan (@ImpactDOC) March 4, 2015
Hey @BillDeMott is a good friend & great trainer. If u can’t handle it then quit. My training at #HartBrothers camp was 10,000 times worse!
— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) March 4, 2015
Bill DeMott is still working at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, and has not released a comment on the situation as of yet. WWE has released a statement though.
“WWE took the accusations made two years ago by Austin Matelson very seriously, conducted a full investigation and was unable to validate the claims. Regardless, WWE continues to reinforce policies and procedures to ensure a positive training environment.”
Right now, there is nothing more to the situation unless more claims of abuse come out against Bill DeMott. If the former developmental talents push the situation though, WWE may be forced to give this more attention.
[Images via WWE]